Greece breathed a sigh of relief, having battled back from a double-digit shortfall against New Zealand, securing a crucial 83-74 victory to advance to the round-of-16 in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup on Wednesday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Ioannis Papapetrou top-scored with 27 points, including four three-point conversions, to go with six rebounds as the Greeks clinched a second-round spot in the tournament with their 2-1 record.
Giannoulis Larentzakis, meanwhile, contributed 20 markers with three outside connections, while Thomas Walkup struggled on offense with 10 points on 3-of-10 field goal shooting for Greece.
New Zealand put on a surprising performance in the first half, taking a commanding 15-point lead. However, they settled for a 43-32 advantage at halftime before Greece gradually mounted a comeback in the second half.
Greece increased their aggression on defense in the second half as they forced New Zealand to turnovers to cut the deficit to 46-49, but the latter still found ways to score as they hung on to a 54-50 lead.
The Greeks, however, turned things around in the final quarter with a 9-0 start to take a 59-54 lead, which later grew to as high as 12 points before preventing New Zealand’s several fightbacks in the endgame.
Shea Ili finished with 27 markers to lead New Zealand; Reuben Te Rangi added 19 markers; and Finn Delany ended with double-double 10 points and 14 rebounds as they were relegated to the classification round.
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